A Fashion Week For All: Vanessa De Luca Urges Us to Turn to the Streets for Style Inspiration

With only 20 percent of the models at February's Fashion Week being POCs, ESSENCE Editor-in-Chief Vanessa De Luca encourages us to find our fashion inspiration from everyday women.

As the world straps on their stilettos in preparation for this month's Fashion Week, ESSENCE Editor-in-Chief Vanessa K. De Luca is painting a picture that expands the diversity in the fashion world.

In an article for the Huffington Post, De Luca points out that only 20 percent of models at the Fall 2015 Fashion Week were people of color. However, she says it is the fashionistas off the runway who are making waves in fashion—and those are the women we need to be paying attention to.

"This season, whether the industry elects to embrace diversity on the catwalk, or offers us more of the same, the real revolution is taking to the streets, literally," De Luca writes. "The Street Style movement, which emphasizes individuality above conventional ideals, is reinventing the way we all think about fashion,. We see the impact especially with millennials, who are known to crave recognition, want to stand out and appreciate self-expression."

Catch some of that self-expression at ESSENCE's Block Party, this Sunday in Brooklyn's DUMBO. If you can't make it out in person, join the conversation (and show us your looks!) using the hashtag #EssenceStyle and #NYFW4All. To read more of what De Luca had to say, check out her post here.